Modem electronic devices are become increasingly smaller in size. There are now personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld personal computers, cellular telephones, televisions, pagers, and computerized Rolodexes which fit in the palm of the hand. Typical prior art devices employ a mouse to position a pointer over an icon, and a “double click” is required to select the desired program associated with the icon. Other prior art devices use a combination of stylus and/or an “enter” key or button to select a desired program or to perform other actions. Other prior art devices employ a combination of position commands (e.g., tilting) to move the cursor and an “enter” key to select and activate the desired program. However, as these devices get increasingly smaller and the screensize requirements get relatively larger, traditional input buttons, enter keys, keypads and pointing devices are becoming more and more difficult for users to use and for manufacturers to incorporate into the devices.
One attempt to eliminate the need for keys, keypads and pointing devices is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,290, herein incorporated in its entirety by this reference. This proposed motion-based input system, however, actually complicates the control and operation of the device by requiring a combination of different position commands (e.g., a particular orientation of the hand) and gesture commands (e.g., a time varying position expressed as a unique pattern of movement over an interval of time) to control and operate the device. Further, the apparatus and method as disclosed in the '290 patent requires the cumbersome task of inputting the various gesture commands into the system, storing the commands in a database, and memorizing them. Moreover, the gesture commands are typically complex patterns of movement which require physical dexterity of the hand.
Such a device is cumbersome and complicated because it requires both a position command and a gesture command to control and operate the device and requires the user to memorize each of the various gesture motions associated with the commands stored in the database. Moreover, because the gesture commands require dexterity of the hand, operation of this device is difficult and/or impossible for handicapped persons with limited hand motion.
In addition, application of the device and method disclosed in the '290 patent to mice technology would require lifting and tilting of the mouse to position the pointer (i.e. “point”) over the desired icon, then performing a gesture command to activate the program associated with the icon (i.e. “click”). Clearly, this is an inefficient and cumbersome way to operate a mouse.
Other motion detection systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,477,236 and 5,910,797, also incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference, suffer from the same or similar problems.